Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a deal with King Abdullah II yesterday confirming Jordan’s historic role as custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem, the palace said.

Outlining their coordination, the two sides stressed their “common goal to defend” Jerusalem and its sacred sites against attempts to “Juda-ize” the Holy City, particularly the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

“In this historic agreement, Abbas reiterated that the king is the custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem and that he has the right to exert all legal efforts to preserve them, especially Al-Aqsa mosque,” the palace said in a statement.

“It is also emphasizing the historical principles agreed by Jordan and Palestine to exert joint efforts to protect the city and holy sites from Israeli Judaization attempts.”

The agreement confirms “Jordan’s role since the era of the late King Hussein,” Abbas was quoted as saying in the statement.

“It consolidates what the two sides [Jordanians and Palestinians] have established decades ago.”

Al-Aqsa, known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif, is Islam’s third-holiest site.

But it is also Judaism’s most sacred place of worship, venerated by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site where King Herod’s temple stood before it was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.

It is one of the most sensitive sites in Jerusalem, and clashes frequently break out there between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.